‘Sesame Street’ Producer Joan Cooney to Step Down

Joan Ganz Cooney, who helped create Children’s Television Workshop, the company that produced “Sesame Street” and other educational series, will step down as chief executive this fall.

Cooney, who will become chairman of the executive committee of the company’s board, will be succeeded by David V. V. Britt, who currently is president and chief operating officer.

“This seems to me the right moment in CTW’s life and my own to make a change,” Cooney said. “I look forward to continuing to work with David and all of the other talented people at CTW.”

Besides “Sesame Street,” a program seen on more than 300 stations of the Public Broadcasting Service, the company also produces “3-2-1 Contact,” a science program, and “Square One TV,” a mathematics show.

Cooney in 1966 undertook the feasibility and planning study for Carnegie Corp., which led to the creation of “Sesame Street.” She was elected president and chief executive when the company was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1970. She was elected chairman and CEO in 1988.

Britt, 53, joined the company in 1971, following government service in Washington. In 1974 he became assistant to the president, and in 1988 he was named president and chief operating officer.